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HumaneWatch: HSUS says one thing, thinks another

In an on-going campaign to reveal the deception used by the Humane Society of the United States in its fund-raising tactics, watchdog group HumaneWatch.org claims what HSUS says in its fundraising appeals is far different from what its leaders and the organization think. The latest publication from HumaneWatch is currently available at the watchdog group’s website.

Despite the words “humane society” in its name, the HSUS isn’t affiliated with any community-based humane societies or other pet shelters, according to HumaneWatch. “HSUS doesn’t run a single pet shelter, nor does it serve as a national headquarters for humane societies that serve cities, towns, counties or states.”

The HSUS has been charged repeatedly by the media and others for the group’s deceptive fund-raising tactics which misrepresent the groups bigger objective. “HSUS is focused on winning rights for animals—not helping the pets depicted in its TV ads. Americans who want their contributions to impact pet shelters should give locally,” the watchdog group recommends.

According to HumaneWatch.org, HSUS spends millions of dollars on lobbying, including costly ballot initiatives that target family farmers. HSUS has recently turned its attention to animal agriculture in Nebraska. In addition, the group has been accused of backing an objective promoting a vegetarian lifestyle.

Is the Humane Society trying to force the country to become a nation of vegetarians? According to Jon Bruning, Nebraska’s Attorney General, the answer is yes. Bruning issued a check for $100,000 last week to ‘We support Agriculture”, a Nebraska-based coalition which intends to raise awareness of HSUS’s anti-animal agriculture agenda.

The HSUS is facing more and more public scrutiny as people gain an understanding of its misleading and deceptive tactics. As Bruning recently put it, “(HSUS is) advertising puppies on TV, but then they come in here … trying to end meat consumption in America.”

HumaneWatch.org has documented how HSUS’s fundraising is misleading. According to HumaneWatch, “the Nebraska Attorney General has the basic HSUS formula down pat: Heart-wrenching images of abused pets are the vast majority of animals in HSUS’s TV appeals, yet HSUS doesn’t run a single pet shelter and donates just one percent of its budget to pet shelters.”

A recent report by HumaneWatch, a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom, determined that HSUS indeed gives less than one percent of its annual budget to local groups—totaling $527,000 over the last three years—despite raising more than $120 million annually.